I remember fish year - guarding the bonfire (a B-1 privilege) in the sleet and rain just before it was lit.

I still have my bonfire pot. I was hoping to give it to one of my kids... but then again--- bonfire may never burn on campus again.

For New Army,

Somebody needs to e-mail this whole thread to the Batt, it would be cool for them to just print the whole thread, word for word for new army to read and realize what a special place they go to and how special Bonfire was to this university and teh bond and ture friendships that were created because of it.

I bet it would open a whole lot of teenage eyes!!

quote:

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Also want to say that while bonfire was great for the rivalry with t.u., how that university reacted was very classy

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As much as we josh each other in the tu rivalry, I thought one of the most moving tear-inducing tributes was what I saw that day by the Texas Band.

I will never forget the class of those students, those directors, and that university on that day.

I tear up thinking of the respect they showed during that show.


It's nice to see the common humanity join us where a heated college rivalry divides us.











Now BTHOOTU!

I think a huge part of A&M is gone forever. We've got vision 20/20 and diversity... changing times.

It's not just A&M. What made Texas what it is and us as Texans is disappearing at a rapid clip.

And I'm not even very old. I can't imagine what it must be like for my grandpa (93).

Being one of the few that worked on Bonfire pre and post '99 (96,97,02,03, and 04-07 in a lesser capacity), it is a life experience to be had.

I learned how to play 42 while chained back to back with a fish buddy to perimeter pole. I remember my chiefs having us try sniff snuff (good way to keep me from ever doin that stuff again!). I remember being in 2nd stack swing and catching cans of snuff as they were being tossed at us. I remember the freezing cold trips in the morning out to cut, bundled up as much as I could, and then shedding most of that by the first hour in the woods. I remember not being able to open my hands because they hurt too much from holding the axe. I remember taking licks for "acquiring" a chief's pot. I remember being huddled up with my friends before it was lit, cause it was freezing cold that November night, and then shedding the jacket minutes after stack was lit. I remember the first floor chief blaring "Welcome to the Jungle" after the War Hymn every cut morning loud enough to be heard on the 4th floor. I remember Sbisa yell and the dorm groding that would take place afterwards.

In '97, I remember taking advantage of it because it was always going to be there. Heck, it had been around for almost 80 years at that point. But we know what happened in '99. When I came back in '02, I could not believe how much the campus had changed. Sure, I knew Bonfire was a big tradition, but I could never have fathomed just how much of an influence it had on not only the student body, but other core A&M traditions. In '02, A&M was not the same place I had left 4 years prior.

When I saw how much had changed, I did everything I could to assist Unity Project (now Student Bonfire) build in '02, and every year since.

Sure, I still tell the kids working on it now about the "old days", and some of those memories will never be experienced again the same way, even should the administration bring it back on campus. However, I do feel that the continued work and dedication of the off campus Bonfire is keeping that spirit alive. I know for fact that I have life long friends from Bonfire and I wouldn't trade it, the time, or memories, for anything.

For those of you that are still at A&M, check out the off campus Bonfire. Yes, it's not the exact same thing, but things have been changed for the better in many cases. Yes, you're going to be tired, sore, cold, hurt, but you'll look back on those days with a smile.

If you want to see the off campus Bonfire, it is set to burn this Saturday night. Check out www.studentbonfire.com for more details.

Thanks to the OP for bringing these memories to the front of everyone's mind and allowing them to be shared. Some of you should visit the Bonfire forum more often and stop by and say hi, as I know many may miss this thread here.

quote:

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We've got vision 20/20 and diversity... changing times.

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Lets not go there.

Gig'Em AGS!

heaven


i went back to A&M in 2002 and would leave the scc and walk towards the polo fields to the zachery parking lot. the brisk air would trick me and i would turn the corner and expect to see the pole lights revealing the different colored pots scurrying around and the different piles of logs and the indistinct yelling of instructions. it would choke me up then and it chokes me up now to recall it.

it has changed the persnality of out university.

i would give almost anything for it to be like it was... for bonfire anyway

Bonfire was more than the sum of its parts. It was more than that. Way more.
I am an outsider looking in, but, I am not a stranger. I worked one day on stack, that one day inside the ropes, and I saw more than the sum of all the parts. Way more.
I saw Ags huddled together, seeking something to help them confront the tragedy and finding strength to comfort those beside them. I saw Ags step up and volunteer to do anything, absolutely anything, they could to help. I remember seeing the same student running bottled water to the crews and realizing he hadn't stopped in a long while. He had a look in his eye that he would never stop on his on. It hurts to remember that look.
I remember seeing a member of K2 standing in the hallway of St Joe. He looked used up and hard spent. It hurts to remember seeing that.
I remember standing inside the ropes as thousands of candles came to surround the site. The silence was deafening. No murmurs, no whispers. You could hear tears falling in the dust. It hurts to remember, but I cherish that memory.
I have fond memories of Bonfire. Good times and good bull. But, the smell of diesel and dust or the feel of warm sunshine on a cool day, and I remember the last one. And sometimes it hurts to remember.
I would rather have it back.

Gig 'Em, Ags.

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u guys remember the wrestling matches out there....that was fun!!!

I had the privilege to see a few bonfires burn pre 99, but never the chance to build one. However, every story, memory, and good time that is being shared on this thread, i have experienced working on student bonfire. I have friends for life because i was lucky enough to get forced into living in Hart Hall.

Give Student Bonfire a chance... it may surprise you just how hard we work and how similar it is... just last night we had some old guys from the 90s up on stack telling stories and leading the crew in yells. The Hart Yellowpot from 78 showed up earlier this year and swapped some good bull stories with us.

Those current students out there are fighting tooth and nail to keep a tradition that all of us hold very dear to our hearts alive, and you have no idea just how much it means when a couple old army guys show up and share a couple laughs...

http://studentbonfire.com/

Awesome site. Awesome event.

Man, I really miss Bonfire! It was just one of those things that made A&M special. Since it has been gone, it's just like a piece of all Ag's is gone with it.

BRING BACK BONFIRE, AND BURN A LAWYER



I am an Aggie, an Aggie is me, I'm true Maroon, from my head to my feet!

BTHO...EVERYONE!!!!

A few memories from 78-81 years:

My outfit really didnt get into the Bonfire with nearly the intensity others did, but we did go out for the cuts. I remember my fish year, fish and pissheads loaded on flatbed trucks and trucked out the the cutting site. No rails on the trucks, fish on the perimeter, locking arms as their feet dangled over the side as the truck sped down hwy. 6 at 5AM!

I would go solo to work on the stack late at night after CQ. I loved hanging in the trapeeze "attaching" logs up on the 4th stack. They had a pully system so when you wanted to go up, you put on the harness and they'd pull you up high so you could work on the stack. Loved listening to Bob Wills, Hank Williams and Jerry Jeff Walker.

To this day, when I leave the house for the office on a crisp fall morning, I'll repeat the words of my fish year C.O. out loud: "It's Bonfire weather!"

It was simply one of the best things about being an Aggie, and my favorite time of year ...

I would park my truck on Bonfire lot behind Duncan a full month before Bonfire burned, just to get a front-row spot. Incredible memories.

As a chief in 98, please just let me say that I really hated those fish that guarded the perimeter on the night it burns.

To the younger Ags out there reading this trying to get some insight, we are gonna fail you on that one. I feel like I can no longer accurately portray the good parts or the really bad ones.

But I will say this: that most assuredly was real urine coming off stack. We wuld do the same thing in the parking lots of cut for fun.

Unbelievable..you just got lost in your thoughts out there..words cannot describe.

Greatest nights of my life were seeing Bonfire burn.

There was nothing like it. My first year at A&M was 1998. I lived on campus and that year was my one and only bonfire. I am just so glad that I got to see one.

I hope someday to see it on campus again.

Earn a Friend Build a Bonfire

Nothing brought this school together like Bonfire.

Wow, I just lost about 5 minutes re-living. Some of the best nights of my life. You "post bonfire" guys are really missing out on something. I remember the afternoons before bonfire, they were like Christmas Eve. I remember walking through neighborhoods and across campus to get to bonfire, everyone was out in the streets. I remember the crowds at bonfire, it was like everyone was your best friend. I remember RC and the teams talking to the crowd, you just knew there was no way we were going t loose to tu.

What a great bunch of memories, I am really sorry for you guys that don't have that part of the A&M experience.

SRF '94

Watched it burn since 1980.

Built it 83-87.

No matter how bad your day was, you could always go to stack in the middle of the night, get to work, listen to the Patton speech over and over, and collapse in the dorm just in time for first call. Never felt better.

GSHB

PK '87

This thread is painful to read.

Hard to put into words what Bonfire meant to me and to my buds.

Redass Puryear Letterhead Class of 1996

"Puryear Builds The Hell Outta Aggie Bonfire"

GIG EM

Bonfire wasn't just one night...it lasted for months...people failed classes to help build bonfire. We all looked forward to it. And the moment it was lit was an amazing sight to see. It seemed like no matter how far away from it you were...you could still feel it's heat.

This is great Bull!! To all of the Ol' Ags who posted your memories on this thread I thank you so very much. I unfortunately never got to experience a Bonfire. I feel that I would trade four years off the end of my life to have gone to A&M when Bonfire was on campus. As die hard as I am about Texas A&M and all it is I couldn't imagine what I would be like if I got to experience a Bonfire.

Bonfire was the biggest and most important part of my "other eduction" at A&M. I often reminisce about bonfire and always end up telling my wife or aggie buddies that it is sad new army will never get to experience the comraderie, sense of cummunity, and just plain fun we would have out there. It really upsets me that this huge part of the Aggie spirit is diminshed.

My favorite memories were last LOAD... getting tight with my brothers as the last truck rolled out; peremiter poles... dodging items fired by water ballon launchers(seeing Spud earn his nickname), protecting the pole, and cranking up the generator to watch "movies"; and the best thing... seeing that baby light up and knowing that 50K people came from all over the state to see something that you were a part of. Besides the birth of my first child, I can honestly say I have not experienced a stronger emotion than seeing bonfire lit for the first time after you have spent the entire fall semester building it.

Walton Loads! NFC! BTHOtu!

Schuhmacher... '95-'99.

Working on bonfire is hard to explain. You just knew that what your were working on was more than just a huge fire. It was a chance to be a part of something bigger than yourself. Thinking back... I'm at a loss for words.

PRO-BONFIRE!

"We didn't build Bonfire as much as Bonfire built us."

-------------------------------------------------------
If you can read this, thank a teacher.
If you can read this in English, thank a Soldier.

PRO BONFIRE

As many of the others that have posted on here have stated, Bonfire represented our burning desire to beat the HELL outta t.u. There was so much more to it than setting a stack of logs on fire. It was 2 months of blood, sweat, and tears that went in to building it. The bonding experiences that were had with fellow Aggies, CT, BQ, non-reg, etc were special. It was having bloodied fingers from tying off bailing wire while using your body weight in the 3rd stack swing to hold that log in "groove" that the crane had placed it. It was swamping log trucks as fast as you could so that the truck could go back to the Cut site and bring another load. I miss bonfire!!

I graduated in 1984. Bonfire was the seminal Aggie tradition. It was broadcast on TV throughout Texas. The downfall (no pun intended) began when it was moved from Duncan to the polo fields. Aggieland has not been the same without it. I thought it would be back by now, but a spineless university president (Ray Bowen) and a continuous stream of litigation from ambulance chasing attorneys seem to have killed it forever. I admire what the off-campus bonfire folks are trying to do, but it pales in comparison to the original. Gig'em Aggies and BTHO tu!

"He was like a god walking amongst mere mortals. He had a voice that could make a wolverine purr and suits so fine they made Sinatra look like a hobo."